Diabetes and it’s symptoms

The graph for diabetes is increasing, In India there has been recent rise in the number with around 3 crore people having diabetes and the more shocking fact is that 50% of theses get to know about it very late. In India around forty thousand people loose their legs due to diabetes every year, and globally around the world in every 30 seconds a person looses his leg.

Similarly if we see the graph of diabetic retinopathy then we see that 43 % of the diabetic patients in India develop diabetic retinopathy and of theses around 30% loose their eyesight within two years of developing the disease.

What is diabetes exactly? – Diabetes is a diseases where our pancreas stops producing insulin or produces it less than what is required. Insulin help in absorption of glucose in body. The carbohydrate in food like sugar, potato, wheat and rice is broken and absorbed as glucose by tissues in our body. Glucose is used for energy. Without this glucose energy we cannot survive but in people having diabetes due to insufficient insulin the body cannot absorb this glucose and there is excess of glucose in blood which is drained out through urine.

Diabetes is of two types – Type A and B.

In Type A Diabetes the pancrease either does not produce insulin or produces less than what is required. In this condition the person can initially survive without taking insulin injection but later they may have to take injections or medicines.

In Diabetes B the cells in pancreases become inactive and the person need to be dependent on insulin injection for life.

Symptoms – A diabetes patient feels thirsty all the time and needs to relive himself more frequently. A normal person urinates around 1.5 liters whereas a person having diabetes may urinate upto 2 to 2.5 liters a day. However this is not the only symptom excess urination can also be due to kidney problem, age related changes.

Diabetic patients also feel very hungry because the body glucose is drained out through urine and the body demands more energy. However since the process of draining out glucose is faster than the food intake of the person, he looses weight drastically. The person feels weak and at times also experiences burning sensation in palms and feet, weakness in eyesight, anemia, frequent reeling of head and takes time to heal any cut or wound.

Any person who has two or few of these symptoms should go for a urine test and if detected with diabetes should regulate their food habits. It involves totally avoiding sugar and sugar products. Eating balanced diet and keeping a watch on calorie intake.

As per medical experts diabetes is not curable, although it can be controlled through medicines, insulin injections, balanced diet and regular exercises.